SRINAGAR/JAMMU: Amid grief and disbelief, two families — one from Kashmir’s Budgam district and the other from Jammu — find themselves bound by an unimaginable tragedy. What was meant to be a festive time of Karva Chauth for architectural designer Shashi Bhushan Abrol’s wife and children, and a hopeful return to routine life for Dr Shahnawaz Ahmed Dar’s family, has now become a period of mourning and shattered dreams.
Sunday’s terrorist attack in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district robbed them of their loved ones, plunging moments of joy into an abyss of sorrow. Abrol and Dar were employees of construction company APCO Infratech and among the seven killed at the Z-Morh tunnel campsite on the Srinagar-Leh highway.
In Naidgam village of Budgam, the air was heavy with grief as 52-year-old Dar was laid to rest in his ancestral graveyard Monday. His family — his mother, wife, and three children — remained stunned by the loss. “My son, where have you gone?” wailed his mother.
One of the most heartbreaking moments came from his teenage son Mohsin Dar, who revealed how his father had been his greatest supporter. “I wanted to become an IAS officer, and he had promised to help me fulfill this dream. Now that dream is gone,” he said.
The timing of the physician’s death added another layer of heartbreak — just days earlier, he had celebrated the wedding of his daughter. He had been scheduled to return home to Budgam to participate in after-wedding ceremonies, but fate had other plans.
The loss has shaken the entire community. “Dr Sahib was a man of honour, a professional who served us with humility and faith,” said Ghulam Mohammad Dar, a local elder. “We were just celebrating his daughter’s wedding, and now we’re mourning his death.”
The village condemned the attackers and called for justice. “This loss is not just personal; it is a blow to humanity,” said a resident. “The ones responsible must be brought to justice.”
Over 300km away, the Abrol family in Jammu is grappling with the same nightmare. Shashi Abrol’s wife Ruchi had kept a Karva Chauth fast, praying for her husband’s long life. But instead of breaking her fast with a loving conversation, she received news of his death.
Ruchi, her voice choked with grief, recounted her last conversation with her husband. “He called me in the evening, and everything seemed normal. I told him I would call again after finishing the temple rituals. But after that, his phone went silent.”
It was only late that night — as Ruchi eagerly waited for a video call from her husband to break the fast — that the family learned of the tragedy through media reports. “We were all trying to comfort her, but we had no idea what had happened,” Ruchi’s sister-in-law Divya said.
Married for 20 years, Shashi leaves behind his parents, wife, and two children.
The family is left with not only their grief but also practical challenges. “Shashi was the sole breadwinner,” said his father Jagdish Raj Abrol. “His wife is a simple housewife. How will she raise the children alone?”
Divya said Shashi’s dream was to see his son become an engineer. “He last came home two months ago to help with his son’s engineering college admission. His biggest hope was to see him succeed, but now everything is uncertain.”
In the midst of their pain, the Abrol and Dar families shared the same plea: that those responsible for this tragedy be held accountable, and that the government extend support to help them rebuild wrecked lives. Still, they know no amount of justice can replace the fathers, sons, and husbands they lost — men whose love, dreams, and hopes for their families were stolen in a moment of senseless violence.